Settling In

 I love this time of year; everything still feels new, but I can tell everyone is beginning to relax and settle in.  Our energy in the afternoons is growing.  The wheels of progress are slowing turning.

This week in Bible class we'll finish up the creation story and the first man and woman on earth.  We spend time thinking how amazing life must have been for Adam and Eve...before sin (stay tuned for that story next week).  Wednesday, all classes will participate in 'See You at the Pole' where students from across the country take time to pray for their school, country and world.

We are all making good progress in learning how to make upper and lower case letters properly.  Our class understands handwriting is a skill that takes lots of practice to master.  We talk daily about what good practice looks like.  One of the big mottos in our class is 'smart people ask for help when they need it' and 'keep trying'.  We encourage students to judge their own work and learn from their mistakes.  Students will show what they know about beginning sounds and handwriting in our second phonics/writing quiz over the letters Bb, Rr, Nn and Mm on Thursday.  We will write a sentence about fall.  At story time, we'll review how to identify characters and settings in a text, and add how to describe both. Near the end of the week, we'll begin lots of practice identifying rhyming words.

This week in math we focus on learning how to write great numbers 0-5 using three lines.  We're good at counting, but writing numbers is a challenge for Kindergarten.

We will get to go to the BLS library this week and learn how to find and check out books from our school library.  

For technology, we get to be in the Tech lab and will introduce the use of the 'big' computers.

The class will dive into our first science unit about weather by beginning a study on the forms of water and the water cycle.  We'll be 'painting' with ice cubes to understand evaporation.  Students will learn a song to help them remember important vocabulary.

When we study music, we are composing this week, making our own pattern of sounds and silence.  Students are learning there is beauty and anticipation in the pauses.

It will go by fast, with Friday being a no school day for students.  The staff will be working on Friday, making  progress in our accreditation process.  It's a big piece of work, but well worth doing and a mark of a school that has excellent standards. 

Keeping the goals high,

Mrs. Luoma